New arrivals
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,090
    At our parish there were six new Catholics at the Easter Vigil: four newly baptized and two received into full communion.

    There seems to a trend of increased interest in the Catholic faith here in the US, and there are similar reports in Europe.
    https://nypost.com/2025/04/17/lifestyle/why-young-people-are-converting-to-catholicism-en-masse/

    Are you also seeing other happy new Catholics this year?
    Thanked by 1Abbysmum
  • OMagnumMysterium
    Posts: 331
    We'll be singing for a Baptism, Confirmation, and Mass with first Communion this Saturday (Sabbato in Albis). This is the third year in a row that we've done this for someone on Easter Saturday (tis our local custom, the pastor thinks Easter Vigil is long enough as it is).

    Nicely, the Communion antiphon is "All you who have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia"
    Thanked by 2chonak CHGiffen
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    We at Walsingham have five masses each weekend and they are all packed. We are building a larger cathedral to hold them all and to make for even greater growth.

    Some years ago I remarked to a Hispanic friend that we had four masses every Sunday and could claim to be really Catholic now. He chuckled and said 'yow, but you don't have one in Spanish' - we both laughed.
    Thanked by 4chonak CHGiffen LauraKaz Adam Wood
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 641
    Here at the Cathedral in Toronto, we had 41 baptisms, maybe 10 receptions into full communion, and 5 confirmandi in addition to those preceding.

    At the Rite of Election there were between 250-260 names from the central region of the diocese. I imagine there are others entering the Church outside of the RCIA programs represented there.

    Particularly in our Vietnamese, Filipino, and Chinese communities there is growth, both by migration and conversion. Praise God.
    Thanked by 5chonak CHGiffen LauraKaz Joseph Michael Abbysmum
  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,034
    We had 6 baptisms (up from 4 and 3), 1 reception into the church, and about 27 total confirmandi. Numbers have been going up the past few years.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 772
    At our relatively small (~100 families) ordinariate parish, we had four baptisms and an additional four (five? I can't remember, the Vigil was long and late) received into the Church. All young, mostly 20-something men.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • davido
    Posts: 1,150
    We had a bunch, 12 or 15 confirmed. A family of 8 bumped our numbers quite a bit.
    Attendance has been at nearly pre pandemic/pre PA grand jury report numbers since Advent 2024
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 508
    across the street from our monastery 76 CHINESE!
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen ServiamScores
  • DrJS
    Posts: 10
    Our small town parish welcomed 13 into the church (10 baptisms), including myself.
    Thanked by 8tomjaw monasteryliturgist CHGiffen OMagnumMysterium LauraKaz ServiamScores Caleferink StimsonInRehab
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 508
    @DrJS Welcome to the Family.
    Thanked by 3DrJS ServiamScores CHGiffen
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    Our rite of election had ~200 names listed. At the cathedral we had five baptisms and a total of around 20 confirmed, including a choir member who was brought into full communion.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CaleferinkCaleferink
    Posts: 452
    21 baptisms at All Souls in Sanford (should have been 22, but one had to receive emergency baptism in the hospital), an additional 10 received into full communion, and an additional 9 confirmations. Still got Easter Vigil done in just under 3 hours with 4/7 Old Testament readings and their Psalms/canticles and the Roman Canon.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • AbbysmumAbbysmum
    Posts: 105
    We had 15? 17? baptisms and confirmations at Vigil this year. We typically see about 10 or so. That was the first batch. We have another 20ish I think who are being confirmed at the end of May, on top of our "regular" confirmation classes from the OWC and school. These are like teens who ended up following the regular confirmation program, but are just slightly older than the norm here. Some of that influx is due to immigration, but not exclusively so.
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 389
    14 Baptisms at the Cathedral in Baltimore, with about the same number of receptions/Confirmations.

    @OMagnumMysterium, do you mean that you don't do baptisms at the Vigil but on the following Saturday? I know that adults can be baptized outside the Vigil "for pastoral reasons," but I always interpreted that at referring to the needs of the catechumen (e.g. they will be out of town for Easter), not a desire to keep the Vigil from going too long.
  • OMagnumMysterium
    Posts: 331
    Well, the last few years we have had a baptism (plus Confirmation and first Communion) on Easter Saturday (the Saturday following the vigil), but we also have them at other times throughout the year too. It is just a question of whenever the person receiving instruction is ready, and it has just happened that Divine Providence has recently provided one person each year for that particular time. At least in some cases, I believe it was the preference of the catechumen to be baptized separately, not at the Vigil in front of hundreds of people. But I don't 100% know our pastor's reasoning every single year, or the exact way that rubrics on this matter are to be best interpreted. This arrangement has become our local custom, and is fun; our community (before we even had our own parish) has never done baptisms at the Vigil, so it would be rather unusual to the folks here. At least this way, we have one more Mass we get to sing!
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,211
    Our cathedral had 60+ people received into the church. I don’t know how many were baptized, but we are now seeing at least one baptism of an adult per year. My pastor does them separately, and as the person is either ready sooner or will not be ready by the vigil, it works out.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Heath
    Posts: 988
    Record numbers here at St. John's Catholic Chapel in Champaign, IL: 18 baptisms and 44 confirmations. :)
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